Blue Thunder 4K UHD

Every decade or so Hollywood declares an arms race. “Gentlemen, we simply MUST make our devastating volcano/killer asteroid/underwater monster movie before they do!” And it’s great fun to watch studios take a crack and the same material from sometimes radically different angles. In the early ‘80s it was the super vehicle trend. Clint Eastwood’s Firefox (1982) revolved around the theft of a hypersonic Russian jet armed with advanced thought controls. But 1983’s Blue Thunder stuck closer to home – Los Angeles, to be precise - with a rogue cop uncovering a domestic conspiracy after hijacking a military super chopper.

Murphy (Roy Scheider) is a stoic police pilot who still struggles with his ‘Nam flashbacks and hints of paranoia. But just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you! In this case it’s Colonel Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell) who's knee-deep in a plot to deploy military-grade weaponry to suppress potential insurrection…personal privacy and civil liberties be damned. Only Murphy and his fresh-faced partner, Lymangood (Daniel Stern), have a chance at breaking the story from behind the stick of a heavily-armed, whisper-quiet government whirlybird.

Blue Thunder is pure ‘80s popcorn entertainment with a bit of cynicism carried over from the previous decade. The technology onboard the chopper itself might seem quaint now (our phones are probably more powerful) but it works well for the story and gives cinematographer John A. Alonzo (Chinatown) an excuse to deliver some of the most impressive aerial footage of L.A. ever put on film. For anyone on the current anti-CGI bandwagon, Blue Thunder is a highlight reel of practical stunt work and “how the hell did they get permission to shoot that!” moments, culminating in a terrific chase scene in, around and under the Los Angeles river bridges.

Director John Badham was a journeyman director whose instincts for delivering hits was never fully appreciated. In a ten year span he cranked out Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, Blue Thunder, War Games, Short Circuit, Stakeout and gave Kevin Costner his first significant role in American Flyers. He might not have been an auteur but he was certainly a craftsman. And Blue Thunder gave him some good tools to work with, particularly actors Roy Scheider, Warren Oates and Daniel Stern (poor Candy Clark is stuck with the “quirky girlfriend” role yet again). But they all manage to find the humanity in a story that could have very easily have focused on the chopper instead. For that, there’s always Airwolf.

Arrow’s new UHD doesn’t wait to make an impression; those opening golden-hour shots over L.A. are almost a religious experience in 4K. Alonzo’s cinematography makes terrific use of the darker parts of the screen so the HDR experience is absolutely reference quality. Beyond the new restoration are three new interviews with Badham, McDowall and Candy Clark to go along with a wealth of archival materials and making-ofs. It’s packaged with a collector’s booklet and new artwork as well.